The European Commission's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) allocated around 5 million euros to the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline project (TANAP), the company announced yesterday.
In a statement released by the company, it was noted that TANAP constitutes the most important ring of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) which will transport Azerbaijani natural gas to Europe, and that the European Union (EU) countries agreed to support the energy infrastructure projects in Europe under the CEF Energy program.
The EU countries decided to invest 48.4 million euros in infrastructure projects, the statement read, adding that TANAP was also one of the two natural gas projects selected for financial support under the program's first call for proposals.
The CEF is a key EU funding instrument to promote growth, jobs and competitiveness through targeted infrastructure investment at a European level.
In accordance with the program, European Union member countries agreed to provide a total of 48.4 million euros per year in support of energy infrastructure projects. A total budget of 5.35 billion euros was allocated for energy projects for the 2014-2020 period.
Since 2014, TANAP received 15 million euros in total from European Union programs. Dubbed as the "Silk Road of Energy," TANAP started operations in June at a grand inauguration ceremony in Eskişehir.
TANAP is the backbone of the multinational European Commission energy project, the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), and it will carry natural gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz-2 and other fields in the Caspian Sea to Turkey and Europe.
The TANAP project brings gas from the Shah Deniz-2 gas field to the Turkish border through Georgia, via the South Caucasus Pipeline. TANAP then connects to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline on Turkey's İpsala border, going on to deliver Azeri gas to European markets through pipes in Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before coming ashore in the south of Italy. This will help reduce Europe's dependence on Russian gas.
TANAP, with around $8 billion of investment, will deliver 6 billion cubic meters of Azeri gas to Turkey and 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) to Europe per year. The European part of the project is expected to become operational in 2020.
The transmission capacity of TANAP will be increased to 24 bcm and then to 31 bcm through additional investments.
SGC holds 51 percent stake in TANAP, which has an investment cost of $8 billion, followed by Turkey's Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) with 30 percent, BP with 12 percent and SOCAR Turkey with a share of 7 percent.
(dailysabah.com)
